Propelling means for dredge barges



Oct. 10, 1961 H. SHATOSKA EI'AL 3,003,454

PROPELLING MEANS FOR DREDGE BARGES Filed D90. 10, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig./

47 73 45 9 69 Q5 637 /5 H J ,ls (0 l7 Henry 80 alaska Troy W. Shams/r0 INVENTORS BY W Ii,@tl3,454 PRUPELLING MEANE FUR DREDGE EARGES Henry Shatoslra and Troy W. Shatos ka, both of General Delivery, Gonzales, La. Filed Dec. 19, I958, Ser. No. 77?,433 7 (Ilaims. (til. 115-9} This invention relates to improvements in propelling means for barges of conventional dredges.

The primary object of the invention is to provide means for propelling such a dredge barge by means of holding and propelling spuds mounted on the barge and operative to advance the barge in a straight line step-by-step into different positions, together with novel means for operating the spuds.

Another object is to provide means according to the foregoing of simple inexpensive construction and which may be applied to any conventional dredge barge without modification of the barge.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings formin a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a barge having the propelling means of this invention applied thereto;

FIGURE 2 is a view in side elevation of the same with the holding spuds in holding position and the propelling spuds in idle position;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE "2 with the propelling spuds in propelling position and the holding spuds in idle position;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view in vertical cross-section taken on the line 4- -l of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view in horizontal section taken on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 4, and

FIGURE 6 is a diagrammatic view in perspective of power operated means for raising the spuds into idle position.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, according to this invention, as illustrated, a conventional dredge barge 1 is provided at one side 2 thereof with a pair of sharp pointed upright holding spuds 3, 5 at its front and rear ends 7, Q respectively, and a pair of upright sharp pointed propelling spuds ll, 13 spaced apart laterally a distance substantially less than the distance between the holding spuds, 3, 5, all of said spuds 3, 5, 11, 13 being rectangular in cross-section and arranged in coplanar relation for a purpose presently apparent.

The holding spuds 3, 5 are vertically slidably mounted in upright rectangular box guides 15, 17, whereas, the propelling spuds 11, 13 are vertically slidably mounted in pairs of upper and lower rectangular sleeve guides 19', 21 respectively so that all of said spuds will drop from a raised idle position under the influence of gravity to become embedded in the bottom 24 of a body of water, represented at 25, and are slidable upwardly into raised idle position above said bottom 24.

The propelling spuds 11, 13 are mounted on the side 2 of the barge l for movement laterally, as a unit, t0 advance the same longitudinally of the barge toward one end of said barge, and for advance of the barge 1 relative to the propelling spuds 11, 13 as and for a purpose presently seen. The mounting means for this purpose includes the pairs of guides 19, 21, a pair of upper and lower horizontal I-beams 25, 27 connecting the upper guides 19 and the lower guides 21 respectively, a pair of upper and lower vertically spaced parallel I-bearn channel tracks 29, 31 suitably fixed in longitudinally extending position on the side 23 of the barge 1 and on which the upper and 3,003,454 Patented Get. 19, 1961 lower guides 19, 21 are mounted for movement longitudinally of said tracks 29, 3 1 to correspondingly move the propelling spuds 11, 13 and also to permit advance movement of the barge 1 relative to the propelling spuds 11, 13.

The mounting means for the guides 19, 21 on the tracks 29, 31, and as best shown in FIGURE 4 in connection with one pair of guides 29, 31 comprises channel slides 33, 35 on the guides 19, 21 respectively, slidably straddling the upper and lower tracks 29, 31 with upper and lower pairs of rollers 37, 39 on the slides 33 of the sleeves 19 riding in the channel track 29', and similar pairs of rollers 41, 43 on the pair of slides 35 of the lower sleeves 21 riding in the channel track 31.

Motor operated cable wind-up means is provided for advancing the propelling spuds 11, 13 relative to the barge 1 when said spuds are raised into idle position and for then advancing the barge 1 relative to the propelling spuds 11, 13 when the latter are dropped into embedded position in which they function as propelling spuds. This means comprises a conventional, reversible electric motor 45 suitably fixed on top of the barge 1 at the side 2, midway between the ends 7, 9 of said barge 1, and a coaxial reel 47 on said motor 45 for operation in opposite directions by said motor, pairs of vertically spaced pulleys 53, 55 suitably mounted on the barge adjacent opposite ends of said barge and between which the pair of propelling spuds 11, 13 move along the tracks 29, 31, and a pull cable 55 terminally connected to the upper guides 19, as at 57, 59 and trained upwardly around the pairs of pulleys 51, 55 to the reel 47 on which said cable is coiled to extend from opposite sides thereof sothat operation of the reel 47 clockwise, as viewed in FIGURE 2, will pull the propelling spuds 11, '13 to advance the same along the barge 1, whereas, operation of said reel 47 in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIGURE 2, will pull and advance the barge 1 forwardly relative to the propelling spuds 11, 13 when said spuds 11, 13 are embedded in the bottom 24-.

Motor operated pull cable means is also provided for raising the pair of holding spuds 3, 5 and the pair of propelling spuds 11, 13 alternately and permitting the pairs to drop alternately and which will now be described.

A second reversible electric motor 61 with three coaxial reels 63, 65, 67 thereon operative in unison thereby in opposite directions respectively, is suitably mounted on top of the barge I adjacent one end 9 of said barge. A pair of holding spud raising pull cables 69, 71 extend from the reels 63, 65 for winding thereon in response to rotation of said reels 63, 65, clockwise as viewed in FIGURE 6, and for unwinding off said reels in response to rotation of said reels d4, 65 counterclockwise, as viewed in FIG- URE 6. The cables 69, 71 are extended oppositely from the reels 63, over idler pulleys 73, 75 on the guides 15, 17 respectively, looped from the idler pulleys 73-, 75 downwardly and upwardly under idler pulleys 77, 7? on the lower ends of the holding spuds 3, 5 and terminally connected as at 81, 83 to said guides 15, 17 respectively, whereby to raise the holding spuds 3, 5 into idle position and to permit the same to drop from idle position into embedded position in response to winding and unwinding of the cables "69, 85 respectively.

A pull cable 85 is attached to the reel 67 for winding and unwinding thereon in response to rotation of said reel 67, counterclockwise and clockwise, respectively, as viewed in FIGURE 6, and is operatively connected to one propelling spud 13 to raise the same into idle position and permit it to drop from said idle position to embedded position in response to rotation of said reel 67 in opposite directions respectively, and winding and unwinding of said cable 85. 'For this purpose, the cable 85 is trained over an idler pulley 87 on the slide 33 of said spud 13, looped downwardly under an idler pulley 89 on the lower portion of said spud I3, and terminally connected, as at 91, to said slide 33. The spud 13 is operatively connected to the other propelling spud 11 to raise said other propelling spud 11 into idle position and permit it to drop from its idle position into embedded propelling position, and by means of a pull cable 93 terminally connected, as at 95, 97 to the propelling spuds 13 and to the slide 33 of the propelling spud 11, said cable being trained under and over idler pulleys 99, 101 on the guide I? of the propelling spuds i3, 11, respectively and looped downwardly under an idler pulley 103 on the lower end of the propelling spud 11.

The reel 67 may be rotated sufiiciently to take up slack in the cable 35 when the propelling spuds are raised and advanced. This will slacken the clables 69, 71 when the spuds 11, 13 are raised and advanced so that the holding spuds i1, 13 may drop different distances and will permit the propelling spuds 11, 13 to drop different distances when the propelling spuds are raised.

In the use and operation of the invention, normally the spuds 3, 5, 9, 11 are in half-way raised idle position, not shown, and the propelling spuds 11, 13 are at the rear end 7 of the barge 1, as shown in FIGURES l and 2 for a reason presently seen. When it is desired to advance the barge 1 from one working position into other working positions, step-by-step, the motor 61 is operated to rotate the reels 63, 65, 67 counterclockwise, as viewed in FIGURES 2 and 3, to unwind the cables 69, '71 and wind up the cable 85. This permits the spuds 3, to drop into embedded holding position as shown in FIGURE 2, and the propelling spuds 11, 13 to be fully raised into idle position as shown in FIGURE 2. The motor 45 is then operated clockwise, as viewed in FIGURES 2 and 3 to wind up the cable 55 forwardly of said reel 47 and unwind the cable 55 rearwardly of said reel 47, thus advancing the propelling spuds 11, 13 relative to the barge 1, for instance as shown in FIGURE 3. The motor 61 is then operated to operate the reels 63, 65, 67 clockwise, as viewed in FIGURE 6 to wind up the cables 69, 71, raise the holding spuds 3, 5, into idle position and to unwind the cables 85 to permit the propelling spuds 11, 13- to drop into embedded position, all as shown in FIGURE 3. Then the motor 45 is operated to rotate the reel 47 counterclockwise, as viewed in FIGURES 2. and 3, to wind up the cable in the rear of said reel 47 and unwind said cable 47 forwardly of said reel 47. This causes the cable 55 to pull the barge 1 forwardly of the embedded propelling spuds i1, 13 to the extent shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, to propel the barge 1 forwardly one step relative to the embedded propelling spuds 11, 13 and in a straight line and positions the propelling spuds 11, 13 adjacent the rear end 7 of the barge 1 after which the propelling spuds 11, 13 are raised into idle position and the holding spuds 3, 5 permitted to drop into embedded holding position in response to operation of the reels 63, 65, 67 counterclockwise and for repeat of the described operations for propelling the bar e 1 forwardly in other steps as desired.

The motors 45, 61 may be energized and controlled by any conventional means.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling Within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. In combination, a dredge barge having front and rear ends and a side, a pair of upright spuds vertically slidably mounted on said side at said ends respectively for dropping by gravity from a raised idle position into embedded position in the bottom of a body of water to hold said barge stationary, a longitudinal track on said side of the barge, a pair of upright spuds intermediate the first named pair spaced apart along said track, means vertically slidably mounting said intermediate spuds for dropping by gravity from a raised idle position into an embedded position in said bottom, means slidably mounting said first named means on said track for movement in unison to advance said intermediate pair of spuds toword said front end of the barge, power means on said barge operatively connected to said spuds to raise and lower one pair of spuds while simultaneously lowering and raising the other pair of spuds respectively, and power means on said barge operatively connected to said first named means and said barge for moving the same to advance said intermediate pair of spuds when raised and to advance said barge relative to said intermedite pair when embedded and said first named pair raised into idle position.

2. The combination of claim 1 said first named power means comprising a motor on said barge having cable wind up reels thereon rotatable in unison thereby, a pair of cables on two of said reels operatively connected to the first named pair of spuds for raising said pair in response to rotation of said two reels in one direction, another cable on another reel operatively connected to one spud of the intermediate pair to lower the same in response to rotation of said other reel in the same direction as the two reels, and means for lowering the second spud of the intermediate pair in response to raising of the one spud of said pair.

3. The combination of claim 1, said first named power means comprising a motor on said barge, reels rotatable in unison by said motor, cables on two of said reels operatively connected to the first named pair of spuds to raise the same in response to rotation of said two reels in one direction, cable means operatively connecting the spuds of the intermediate pair together for lowering of one spud of the intermediate pair in response to lowering of the other spud of the pair, and a cable on another of said reels operatively connected to one spud of the intermediate pair to lower the same in response to rotation of said other reel in the same direction.

4. In combination, a dredge barge having ends and a side, a longitudinal track 011 said side, a pair of upright spuds spaced apart along said track, means vertically slidably mounting said spuds for dropping by gravity from a raised idle position into an embedded position on the bottom of a body of water, means slidably mounting said first named means on said track for movement in unison to advance said pair of spuds in unison toward one end of the barge when raised into idle position, power means on said barge operatively connected to one spud for raising the same, means operatively connecting said one spud to the other for raising said other spud in response to raising of said one spud, and power operated cable means operatively connected to said barge and said first named means for moving the same when the spuds are raised and advancing said barge relative to the spuds when the latter are embedded.

5. The combination of claim 4, said last named power operated cable means comprising a reel on said barge, a cable wound on said reel and extending from opposite sides thereof with ends connected to said first named means, a pulley on said barge adjacent said ends respectively and around which said cable is trained.

6. In combination, a dredge barge, a first pair of spaced upright spuds vertically slidably mounted on said barge for movement between raised outer positions and embedded positions in the bottom of a body of water to hold said barge stationary, a second pair of upright spuds, means vertically slidably mounting said second spuds for movement between raised outer positions and embedded positions in said bottom, means slidably mounting said first mentioned means for rectilinear movement along said barge in a substantially horizontal plane, first tween said one first spud and the other first spud for effecting raising and lowering thereof in response to raising and lowering of said one first spud.

5 References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 119,923 'Fontaine Oct. 17, 1871 415,501 Cole Nov. 19', 1889 10 743,751 Perry Nov. 10, 1903 1,792,065 Bowers Feb. 10, 1931 

